Yummy Sugar Cookie Recipe

I absolutely LOVE soft, sugary sugar cookies that seem to melt the moment they enter your mouth. I found this delicious recipe online and thought I would share it with you!

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups shortening
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large eggs, beaten
• 4 1/3 cups cake flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• sugar, for decorating

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugars and shortening using an electric mixer.
3. Mix on slow speed 30 seconds, then scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. Increase speed to medium and mix for 3 minutes. You want the sugar and shortening cream nice and soft.
5. Slowly add vanilla and beaten egg while mixing.
6. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl, mixing on slow speed until just blended. Do not overmix.
7. Scoop with an ice-cream scoop and roll in sugar. A very important step!
8. Place directly on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with palm of hand.
9. Bake at 375° for 9-10 minutes. Cookies are done when small cracks appear and are pale golden. Ideally, the edges do not brown.
   
   

Fun Family Field Trips in Utah

Live in Utah? Wondering what to do with your family this summer? This post is for you! I just jotted down some of the fun things we love to do during the summer!

• Family Movies- discounted movies are playing at local theaters such as Cinemark.
• Art Festivals- we just attended the Ogden Art Festival and had a blast! There were lots of cute (and FREE) kids crafts, local music, and of course all the fun and inspiring booths!
• Ogden's Dinosaur Park- we have been to a few dinosaur parks and this is by far our favorite! We love running around to each of the dinosaur statues and spouting off their names and what they liked to eat. (my little girl LOVES dinosaurs!!)
• Union Station Museum- This is an interesting museum where you can learn a lot about the history of the railroad. They have a little play area for kids and a miniature train. We especially love looking at the old locomotives and railway cars in the train yard. This is a great place to get some darling pics of your kiddos so don't forget your camera!
• Golden Spike Arena- There are some free events at the Golden Spike Arena in Ogden this summer- from barrel racing to youth rodeos. Despite my husband's allergies, we plan on making a short trip out to watch the horses in action!
• Treehouse Children's Museum- A fun museum housing a wide variety of learning areas. We like to go when it's cooler outside. There are a few free days this Summer, so be on the look out for those!
• Nature Center- It's a little piece of the great outdoors in the middle of Ogden. Beautiful walking trails and some rescued birds. A great place to spend time outdoors this summer! They have some great day camps for kiddos as well.
• Red Butte Garden- We took a little field trip here recently and loved it... there are beautiful gardens, hiking trails, and a fun splash area for the kids. Come prepared to walk and another great location for pics!
• Library- Lots of books/DVDs/games/CDs... and best part, it's free!
• Thanksgiving Point- There is a wide variety of activities here! We hope to one day go down and visit the farm this summer.
• This is the Place State Park- We always have a good time when we go here- and we have been lucky enough to go on free days. They have a petting zoo, train, pony rides, and lots of old buildings. A fun way to learn more about our pioneer heritage.
• RAMP- If you live in or near Weber County, check out this link for a lot of fun and free activities on Saturdays this summer.
• hiking trails- Drive towards the mountains and you are bound to go by a few trailheads. Best hiking tips: go early- the earlier the better and bring plenty of water.
• Hill Air Force Base Museum- This is a free museum full of airplanes. I will admit that after looking at the fifth airplane I had pretty much zoned out, but my husband and daughter really like it! And they do have a little play area for the kids...
• Splash Parks- Let's see... fun, a great way to cool off, and did I mention FREE?!
• Tracey Aviary- You have to go at least once! They just opened a new owl exhibit that we are excited to see. The aviary is located next to a fun park/playground with a splash fountain... so if it's hot, bring those swimming suits!
• Hogle Zoo- Most people we have talked to have told us to avoid the zoo this year because of the construction and remodeling. But we say- THIS is the time to go! They have dinosaurs!! I am not sure how long this exhibit will last, but we are super excited to go to the zoo this year!

My Family Tree

For a family home evening we made a little family tree for my daughter's exploration journal. It is a great visual to see that mommy and daddy have a mommy and daddy, and that these people happen to be grandma and grandpa! As an extension it would be WONDERFUL to include great grandparents (she has the cutest great-grandparents that hold a play group every month and she is named after another great-grandma) and aunts and uncles. And hopefully soon we can add a brother or sister!

Here is a simple family tree download that can get your kiddos started on their own family trees!

Flag Day Ideas

Flag day is just around the corner! Can you believe it? Summer is flying by! I thought I would post some fun flag day ideas to do with your kiddos!

• Patriotic crafts (check out Enchanted Learning for some fun ideas like patriotic pinwheels and windsocks! FamilyFun also has some great printables)
• Poems, songs, and finger-plays- this is a great way to teach your little one about our country! (Check out Activity Idea Place for a whole bunch of ideas!)
• Delectable snacks (try a fruit flag pizza , spangled sandwich pops, revolutionary berries, or a patriotic red white and blue drink!)
• Attend a flag ceremony (check with local scout troops- they might perform one on flag day)
• Go on a flag hunt- walk around the neighborhood and count all the U.S. flags. Kids can also write down or draw observations about these flags.
• After learning about the U.S. flag, create a special flag that represents your fantastic family!

Have a wonderful flag day!

Happy TEACHing!

Star Spangled Banner

Flag day is coming up in a couple weeks, and in honor of this great U.S. holiday I want to teach my daughter the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner. While I don't expect her to completely understand the meaning behind the lyrics, I think it is important to share with her a touching tribute to our flag.

Here is what I created to help my daughter comprehend the Star Spangled Banner. The first file has clipart, the second file has blank squares for an older child to illustrate the meaning behind each line. I was in a hurry to put these together (long story short- I am experiencing computer related nausea- nice, huh!) so I apologize if I misused anyone's copyrighted pics. I will gladly change them out if you let me know.


Star Spangled Banner Clipart
Star Spangled Banner Blank Song Sheet 

I hope these files help you and your little ones understand and appreciate the importance of our flag! It really is an incredible symbol of courage, determination, and perseverance... and no matter where we live or what we believe, I think we would all agree that those are qualities worth striving for!!

Happy Teaching!

Praise to the Man Song Sheets

Watching my daughter "sit"in Primary is hilarious. She is a very active little girl, and loves to socialize with others around her. Needless to say she needed a little help learning the songs for the Primary program!

To help her learn the chorus of Praise to the Man, I created this song sheet.
Praise to the Man
We would sing through it once or twice a day. I pulled out the dinosaurs (my daughters FAVORITE toys) to help us role play certain parts of the chorus. T-Rex and Allosaurus were the traitors and tyrants. Naturally, since they are all carnivores and in her eyes the carnivores are always the bad guys! The traitors and tyrants would fight with the herbivores (a.k.a. good guys) but were met with shouts of "You're fighting us in vain!" The dinosaurs also took turns "ascending to heaven" which meant they flew up to the table in her playroom. I also threw in a quick lesson on what descending means, you know... since they are opposites.

I wanted to mention a songsheet I found on SugarDoodle- It is great for older children and includes pictures of the first and third verses. I also found these sites to have some great ideas for teaching this song:

Teaching LDS Children

Sofia's Primary Ideas

Arizona Forever

I would love to hear any other ideas you have for teaching your children the primary songs!

Happy Teaching!

Organizing Hair Bows

Like many of you parents out there, I struggled with how to store hair bows. I tried hanging bows from ribbons and bow boards, but there was never enough room for all the bows. And they became problematic when my daughter thought it hilarious to rip them off. And I kept them all grouped together by color, so whenever we got new bows I would have to rearrange them so there would be room by the right color. I also tried the throw them into a basket method, which obviously has it's downsides when you are in a hurry to find a bow that matches.

Recently we acquired some darling new bows from a neighborhood bow party. My daughter and I were admiring the beautiful bows when we decided to pull out ALL the hair bows and head bands and sort them by color.After we had sorted them, I thought "Now wouldn't it be great if we could just KEEP them sorted!" And as I was about to start throwing the bows back into the basket, I came up with this idea. Why not take the unused head bands (bought at the dollar store) and stick on the hair bows!
It is the perfect solution for me... I can keep the bows out of sight and yet they are still sorted by color. (And do you see those darling little cards on our piano? Check out KinderBach.com! My daughter is learning SO many amazing piano skills from this site!) When my daughter is wearing blue, I can give her the blue hair band and she can choose her own bows (I am a little controlling about her matching!). It is also a great way to show various shades of one color. AND it is a great way to put those headbands to work! :)Happy Teaching and Organizing!